Apollo Global Management owns 90% of Yahoo through funds it manages, and Verizon Communications holds the other 10%. Yahoo is a private American company based in New York City. Apollo paid about $5 billion for the business in a deal that closed on September 1, 2021. Yahoo does not disclose a current valuation.
Yahoo ownership at a glance
| Ownership type | Private, majority held by private equity funds |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Apollo Global Management (90%, through Apollo-managed funds) |
| Largest shareholders | Apollo Funds (90%), Verizon Communications (10%) |
| Latest valuation | Not disclosed |
| Last acquisition | Apollo Funds, $5 billion, closed September 1, 2021 |
| Founded | 1994 (current entity incorporated in 2017) |
| Headquarters | New York City, with major offices in Sunnyvale, California |
| CEO | Jim Lanzone, appointed September 2021 |
Who owns Yahoo today?
The chain of ownership runs three deep. Public shareholders own Apollo Global Management, Apollo manages the funds that hold 90% of Yahoo, and those funds control the Yahoo board.
Verizon kept a 10% stake when it sold the business. It also received $4.25 billion in cash and $750 million in preferred interests under the May 2021 agreement.
Neither founder holds equity. Jerry Yang and David Filo left the original public company, which was renamed Altaba in 2017 and dissolved in 2019 after selling its operating assets to Verizon.
Yahoo does not publish the size of its employee equity pool. The 90/10 split has held since 2021, including through the sale of AOL to Bending Spoons, which closed on January 2, 2026 for $1.45 billion according to Bending Spoons’ SEC filing.
Yahoo equity ownership, September 2026
Who owns Apollo Global Management, Yahoo’s parent?
Apollo Global Management trades on the New York Stock Exchange under APO. Its market capitalization reached $76.11 billion on August 10, 2026, and it reported $1.05 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026.
Institutional investors hold most of the stock. Vanguard and BlackRock are the two largest, each below 10%, and index funds account for much of that.
Insiders own a substantial block. Co-founder Leon Black held roughly 6.6% as of May 2026, and chairman and chief executive Marc Rowan is also among the larger individual holders.
The tie between the two companies is direct. Reed Rayman, a partner at Apollo, has chaired the Yahoo board since September 2021. This layered structure is common in tech, though it differs from the nonprofit-controlled arrangement described in the ownership structure behind OpenAI.
What else does Apollo Global Management own?
Apollo’s private equity arm managed $70 billion in assets as of June 30, 2026. Yahoo sits inside that portfolio alongside dozens of other companies.
Holdings include Athene, its retirement services platform, The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, the photo products company Shutterfly, and the members club operator Soho House. Rayman sits on the Shutterfly and Soho House boards as well.
The portfolio turns over as funds buy and exit. AOL was part of the same 2021 purchase and left the group in January 2026 when Yahoo sold it. For comparison with a listed consumer internet company, the Pinterest shareholder breakdown shows how a public register differs from a fund-held one.
Who are the biggest investors in Yahoo?
The list is short, because Yahoo has not raised outside venture capital since it was carved out of Verizon.
- Apollo Funds, 90%, acquired September 2021
- Verizon Communications, 10%, plus $750 million in preferred interests
- LionTree, which advised on the deal and invested alongside the Apollo Funds
Sequoia Capital backed the original Yahoo in 1995, but that entity no longer exists and the stake was wound up with Altaba. Private cap tables like this one are harder to read than venture-backed ones, a point covered in the investor list behind Cerebras.
Is Yahoo publicly traded?
No. Yahoo has no ticker and files no quarterly reports. The last listed version of the company traded as YHOO until 2017, and the successor holding company, Altaba, traded as AABA until it dissolved in 2019.
A return to the market has been discussed. Lanzone told Puck in December 2025 that the company was ready financially, and MediaPost reported in February 2026 that no filing had been made, with estimates of $20 billion or more circulating. Other candidates are listed in this rundown of companies in the AI listing pipeline.
FAQ
Who founded Yahoo?
Jerry Yang and David Filo founded Yahoo in 1994 while they were graduate students at Stanford University. It began as a directory of websites and went public in 1996. Neither founder holds a stake today.
Does Verizon still own Yahoo?
Verizon owns 10% of Yahoo. It bought Yahoo’s internet business in 2017, merged it with AOL, then sold the combined unit to Apollo Global Management in 2021 while keeping the minority stake.
Does Google own Yahoo?
No. Google has never owned Yahoo. The two have signed search advertising agreements over the years, which is a commercial arrangement rather than ownership. Apollo Global Management holds the controlling stake.
How much did Apollo pay for Yahoo?
About $5 billion. Verizon received $4.25 billion in cash, $750 million in preferred interests, and a 10% stake in the renamed company. The deal was announced in May 2021 and closed that September.
Who owns AOL now?
Bending Spoons, an Italian technology company. It bought AOL from Yahoo for $1.45 billion in a deal that closed on January 2, 2026, ending a decade in which AOL and Yahoo shared an owner.
